Don't Leave Me to Freeze
by Pikkushi
Summary: Ivan was lost - desperately, hopelessly cold and lost. He needs to find his way back to his sisters, to the only people he can trust, but how sure was he that the strange boy offering him a helping hand is truly a friend?


**Title**: Don't Leave Me to Freeze

**Author**: me

**Characters**: Russia, China, Ukraine, Belarus

**A/N**: Written for the Hetalia Kink Meme (Part 17?) request: _Russia breaking down and crying_, or something to that effect. I kinda edited some stuff, so it's slightly different :)

**Disclaimer**: HETALIA AXIS POWERS BELONGS TO HIMARUYA HIDEKAZ, NOT ME. If it was mine, there would have been more chibi!russia

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><p><strong>Don't Leave Me to Freeze<strong>

Everything towered over him - the stalls and the people, the booths and the balloons, the decorations and the statues - everything looked like it was about to fall on his head and crush him. But little Ivan was not afraid, not when he's holding on firmly to Yekaterina's hand, not even when Natalya's clinging possessively to his other arm (Yekaterina had to pull her away and hold on to her with her other hand). As long as they were at his side, he'll never be afraid. They're the only two people in the world who sincerely loved him. Everything would seem unreal and more cruel without them by his side.

But Ivan's mind was not always on his sisters. As soon as he saw that familiar bright yellow in between the forest of legs, Ivan was like one transfixed. He wanted to chase it, grasp it, hold on to its warmth. Sunflowers were the only other things that could ever make him happy, and so he ran after it. He slipped between the stalls to the spot where he last saw the yellow, but it was not there. Everything was back to the normal grays and pale blues of everyday life, but that's okay, because there's Yekaterina and Natalya...

...Yekaterina and Natalya were nowhere to be found. They've left him behind. They've abandoned him. Russia snapped his head from left to right, searching frantically, instinctively clinging to the scarf that he had been wearing since forever, the one Yekaterina gave him. They're gone! They can't be gone! Ivan was still there!

It's almost funny, in a very pitiful way, for someone who has survived the bitter Siberian cold and the Tatar's yoke to be reduced to a whimpering kicked-puppy without his sisters, of all people. He ran back through the slit to where he slipped his hands from his big sister. They weren't there. He ran back to where he thought he saw the sunflower, thinking that maybe they followed him to that spot. They weren't there. Being a proud nation, Ivan did his best to choke back his sobs, but panic was driving his rationality out. What if they never came back? What if they really intended to leave him behind? What if the people around found out who he really was? Oh, he was sure the Russians hated him!

Night was falling, and the temperature dropped further with each minute. To little Ivan, what little warmth he had was lost the second he lost sight of his sisters. He trudged along the snowy path, directionless, head hung low, not knowing what else to do. He didn't want to ask for help. Today, everyone looked menacing and cold-hearted and determined to harm him in some way. Everybody seemed out to get him, eager to choke him with the realization that his beloved sisters had left him behind. Did that man just sneer at him? Did that woman just laugh at his obvious anxiety? What in the world had he knowingly done to provoke such actions from his own people?

Ivan's paranoia was getting worse by the second. He ran, trying to escape the frame of mind he was in, but it rode on his brain like an unshakable cowboy, digging sharp heels into him. He bumped against passing people, and passing people bumped into him, but he didn't care. He just wanted his sisters back. He wanted his sanity back. Suddenly, he sprinted right smack into another person, and the impact sent him falling back to the ground. Ivan instinctively pulled his arms across his head, expecting to get badmouthed and hit as usual. Instead, through the small slit formed between his arms, he saw the same billowing yellow of the sunflowers as before. Perhaps he had died? The billowing yellow cloth crouched down, and Ivan compressed himself into a ball further, not wanting to see whether he's really deceased...

"...Are you okay aru?"

Ivan permitted himself a small peek to see who it was and it only took him one look to realize that the person was no ordinary passerby. He was a nation. Like him. A kindred soul. Still, to be safe, Ivan continued to hold his arms over his head. A nation has more ability to hurt him than a human, after all. No, he can't just trust anybody. His sister's are the only ones he can truly rely on.

"Are you okay aru?" the boy repeated, putting a hesitant hand on the shivering Russian's sleeve.

"Don't touch me!" Ivan cried fiercely, pushing the gentle touch away. Two big teardrops rolled down his face as he did so, and he quickly buried his face on his sleeve to hide himself. How can he establish himself as a strong nation if another country sees him break down like that?

The boy in yellow stood up and stretched with a sigh before crouching back down to face Ivan. "I think you're lost aru. I want to help you."

Ivan made no reaction, save a shiver of cold from a sudden gust. The boy sighed again and went on. "My name is Yao, and I think you know already, but," he said, leaning in a little closer. "I'm a nation too, just like you! There's no need to be afraid aru!"

"You... won't hurt me?"

"Aiyah! Why would I do that aru? Come, come, you're gonna freeze out here, you know." The boy known as Yao took Ivan's hand, and hesitantly, Ivan followed suit. They walked to a travelling tent selling Chinese food. Ivan whimpered and held back once again.

"Please don't eat me..." he cried, and Yao would have laughed heartily if he hadn't seen the serious despair in the tiny Russian's eyes, threatening to spill over in another onslaught of tears. Whatever he had gone through at so young an age, it was definitely not pleasant. Yao's heart was practically torn to shreds, and now he was more determined than ever to stop whatever pain Ivan was going through as soon as possible. People were starting to dismantle their stalls as the biting cold began to get sharper with each passing second. Ivan clung to Yao's legs as Yao struggled to trudge forward, eyes peeled for fellow nation-people like them. This was no easy task, given the intense cold and the fact that Ivan was growing more sullen and withdrawn with each step, like he was retreating into himself as a defense mechanism against reality. Yao can't give up now, not when they've come so far. They we're just about to ask the umpteenth store-owner if they have seen two girl as described by Ivan when the latter suddenly ran away.

"Wait!" Yao called as he chased after Ivan. Damn himself if Ivan gets lost and winds up in even more trouble! As Ivan turned right into a corner, he seemed to bump into someone else and was sent falling back. Yao was a few meters away when he heard a scream of "IVAAAAN!" pierce the air, as well as the familiar zing that came when people of their kind get near each other. Two Caucasian girls, one who looked older than Ivan and one who looked younger, ran towards the fallen boy and practically collapsed on the ground to hug him.

"Ivan! Oh Ivan, where have you been? We were so worried..." the elder one cried as she held her two younger siblings (Yao assumed) like a mother should. The younger one kept her face buried into Ivan's coat, as if afraid that he'd be lost again. Ivan kept chanting something along the lines of "_Ne morozʹ menya... Ne morozʹ menya..._" and as curious passersby started to crowd around the crying trio, Yao smiled with the satisfaction that he had done his job, and he started back to the place from whence he came.

"Let's go, Ivan," Yekaterina said as she stood up and began to lead them to the direction of their home. Ivan looked around to thank the kindly boy who helped him, but everything was, once again, back to the normal grays and pale blues of everyday life.

"Wait a moment, _sestra_, I have to thank him!" Ivan said as he pulled away, only this time, he was more careful to look back to see if his sisters were following, which they were. He trudged back through the streets until he caught sight again of that familiar yellow cloth. Ivan ran and tugged on Yao's coat. Yao turned around to see Ivan holding on to him with his small hands, smiling despite his tears. His sisters were close behind.

"Thank you so much. You will come home with us for this time?"

"I'm afraid I have to go, for I have family to look after, too."

"Ah, but you will become my friend in the future, da? When I am more fit to be your friend? You are very kind."

"We will meet again, little Ivan."

"But by then I will not be little anymore."

"Heh, I hope you'll still be cute."

And thus they parted ways.

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><p><strong>Don't Leave Me to Freeze<strong>

Date: Jan 29 - Apr 10 2011

Words: 1,540


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